BARRINGTON — Greg Bolton has been looking to own a business with a history and a compelling story, and with Calef's Country Store, he found it.

Bolton, of Candia, became the new owner of Calef's in November.

After a busy holiday season, Bolton, 52, sat down with Foster's for an interview on Thursday.

He said that Calef's Country Store, which opened in 1869, was an opportunity for him to work in a place rooted in the community and that brings customers back to the old days.

The store features products that are rarely found in modern stores, including penny candy, sold by piece and not by weight; private label jams; maple candy; and cheese and ham that are cut to order.

“We do things sort of the old-fashioned way,” said Bolton. “There is so much history here and carrying that on is pretty exciting.”

The previous owner of Calef's, Lindy Horton, has owned the business for about 17 years. She previously said that while several developers have expressed interest in tearing the store down, or changing it, she sold Calef's to Bolton because he was interested in keeping the store primarily as it always has been.

For Bolton, “It felt like a place I could feel happy and comfortable, without changing it dramatically,” he said.

Since taking over the ownership of Calef's Country Store on Nov. 7, Bolton said he's been surprised at how busy the store can get, particularly on the weekends.

Calef's Country Store, he said, has two primary clientele — the local families who come there on a regular basis, and the out-of-state visitors who want to experience what New Hampshire used to be like in the old days.

Bolton has worked in food service his entire career. Before becoming the owner of Calef's Country Store, Bolton has worked at Republic Management Corporation, a corporate dining business, from 1990 until the late 2000s. He also worked in the catering field in the Seacoast in the 1980s.

For Bolton, this is his first experience in owning a business. He said that while the experience is a bit scary, he plans to stay with Calef's for a long time, and relies on customers' and staff's feedback to point him in the right direction.

“The customers have been really good at telling me what I can and can't do,” said Bolton. “Most of them say to never get rid of Joel (Sherburne) and the staff in general.”

Joel Sherburne has worked more than 55 years at Calef's Country Store. Several other employees have worked at the store for more than a decade.

“What's important is to keep the store a part of the community,” said Bolton.

He said that while some of his customers are from out-of-town and out-of-state, “The roots are in the community and they need to stay there.”

In the future, Bolton said he would like to develop catering at Calef's Country Store, and also expand the deli section, to offer even more variety and specialty sandwiches.

He said he would also like to expand the store's selection of local product, as well as capitalize on the Calef's County Store website, so that customers can order items online even if they live out of state.

Bolton noted that Calef's is also known for its good customer service — it's not uncommon to find staff members custom-building holiday baskets for customers, or agreeing to hold certain products to get picked up later in the day.